Can't Escape The Past
by that1fangirl
Summary: Jack is the new kid for his senior year, and he's hiding a huge secret. Can the Guardians save Jack from the danger ahead or will Jack end up just like his father? (Sucky summary, but please read!) High School AU!
1. Chapter 1

I had started a story similar to this on an old account, but it was somehow deleted and then my computer broke down, so I lost the entire story. So here I am, re-writing it, and changing some things. Hope you like!

* * *

Jackson Nathaniel Frost, Jack for short, was different, to say the least. His father had been an albino, while his mother had normal pigment. It caused Jack to become part albino, with snow white hair and very pale skin. His eyes, however, we the radiant sky blue eyes his mother had.

Jack's mother's name was Annabelle Madeline Bennett. Bennett was her married name; she had married to Jack's stepfather, Jeremiah Marcus Bennett. Jeremiah had been more of a dad to Jack than Jack's biological father ever was.

The couple had two children, Jamie Oscar Bennett and Sophie Lynn Bennett. Jack was 17; Jamie was 10; Sophie was 5.

"Jackson!" Annabelle hollered up the stairs. "Hurry up! I'm not going to wait forever, and your food's going to get cold!"

"Coming, Mom!" Jack hollered back, pulling on his sneakers.

Today was his first day of senior year at a completely new high school. He didn't want to be late, but he'd spent just a little extra time on his hair this morning and brushing his teeth. He wanted to make a good first impression. He'd been a troublemaker by nature at his old school, and he wanted to end his high school career with a good mark.

Jack looked his outfit over one more time in the mirror. Simple, black sneakers, his favorite brown pants, and his signature navy blue hoodie. He smiled, pleased with himself.

Jack bound the stairs, excited for the day ahead.

* * *

The room was still, and dark. The only light was the streams slipping through the curtains. The only sound that could be heard was light snoring. Suddenly, the alarm clock went out, clouding playing a Christmas Carol. The snoring stopped, a groan replacing it.

Nicholas St. North, just called North by his friends, sat up in his bed and shut the alarm clock off. He rubbed his eyes before his brain began to wake up. He opened his blue eyes and smiled.

Jumping out of bed, North drew back the curtains and gave a hearty laugh as light flooded into the room. He grabbed a Christmas themed shirt, red sneakers, and denim pants, throwing them on. North quickly brushed through his dyed white hair. Grabbing his keys, North grabbed his Russian cap before bounding down the stairs.

"Now, now, young man!" a female, Russian voice hollered. "You come eat breakfast! Make you big and strong!"

"I already am big and strong, mother," North replied with his own Russian voice. "That is why I am leader of the Guardians."

North's mother, Olivia Sally North, only rolled her eyes and smiled before setting two plates of pancakes down. "Eat up, both of you."

"Yes, dear."

North looked to see his father, Kris St. North, set down his newspaper and reach for the syrup. North sat down across from his father and smiled.

"Good morning, Dad," North greeted him.

"Morning, son," Kris replied. "First day of senior year, yes? Is exciting."

"Make us proud," Olivia told her son.

"Of course, Mom," North smiled.

* * *

All was quiet in the extremely bright room. If the girl occupying the bed was awake, she would've heard the anxious giggles that grew louder as they neared her door. Triplets, aged 10, quietly snuck in, shushing each other. They snuck up to the bed and smiled at each other before screaming and jumping on the bed to wake their sister.

Tatiana Rose Fairie jumped awake, laughing when she saw her little sisters. "Good morning, girls."

"Morning, Tooth!" Trinity greeted her sister. Tooth was Tatiana's nickname that her friends gave her. "Tabitha, Tiffany, and I wanted to make sure you weren't going to be late for your first day! Senior year after all!"

"Thank you, girls!" Tooth said as the triplets climbed down so their sister could get up. "You want to help me pick an outfit?"

"Yes!" they answered in unison.

The four sisters settled on a pink summer dress with silver flats and Tooth's favorite multi-colored belt. Tabitha helped Tooth brush her blonde hair while Tooth put in her purple contacts. Her eyes were normally almost black, which she hated.

The sisters ran downstairs to be greeted by their parents, Camille Isabella Fairie and David Ernest Fairie. The two had made french toast, sausage, and bacon. The girls happily dug in before going to brush their teeth.

Tooth smiled, proud of her shiny and well kept teeth. She was ready to start her last year with a bang.

* * *

A married couple, wife Lucy Madison Sanderson and husband Derek Toby Sanderson, walked into their son's room, smiling to see the almost-adult still fast asleep. Derek shook him to wake him up. Samuel Daniel Sanderson looked up at his father in confusion.

Derek smiled. "First day of school, buddy. Don't want to be late."

Samuel nodded, getting up and heading towards his closet. The dirty blonde haired, brown eyed boy was a mute, but could thankfully hear just fine. If he wanted to talk, he could either use sign language or write on a notepad he carried everywhere.

He didn't waste any time getting ready, eating breakfast, and getting his stuff into his backpack. He was almost always a late riser, and he didn't want to be late on his first day. He didn't want to ruin his perfect attendance record.

He gave his mother and father hugs and waved as he rushed out of the door.

* * *

Chloe Evie Bunnymund sighed in frustration. The night before the first day of school, her husband Ashton Jonathan Bunnymund and their son Edward Aster Bunnymund stayed up working on a father-son paint project. A 10 year old girl rushed into the room, giggling at the sight she saw.

"Wake up your brother, will you?" Chloe asked her daughter. "I'll make breakfast."

Phoebe Addison Bunnymund cracked her knuckles before walking over to her still sleeping brother. She took a deep breath before wrapping an arm around his neck and proceeding to wake him with a noogie.

"Ay!" Edward, called Bunny by his friends, jolted awake. "Cut that out, ya lil' anklebiter!"

Phoebe laughed and launched herself onto her brother's lap. "It's the first day of school, ya gumby. Don't wanna be late, do ya?"

Bunny sighed before picking his sister up and standing up.

"Alright, c'mon," Bunny said. "I'll go get dressed. You help Mom cook."

"Ok!" she squealed as Bunny put her down, taking off. The squeal woke up Ashton, who looked in confusion as his son left the room before setting his head back down and going back to sleep.

Bunny just dressed in a simple grey t-shirt, denim jeans, and grey sneakers. Something in his hormones caused his hair to naturally turn grey, so he just left it that way. His green eyes were still trying to wake up as he walked into the kitchen, his backpack hanging off his shoulder.

"There's my senior!" Chloe chuckled. "Your breakfast salad is on the table."

Bunny's family was vegetarian, but Bunny didn't mind. After all, there was an animal in his name. He was just fine without meat in his diet; he was the school's best track runner. He also had a reputation as the best artist.

"Eat, before you're late!" Chloe urged him. "And next time, know better than staying up late with your father on your projects!"

Bunny only rolled his eyes before sitting down at the breakfast table.

* * *

This is kind of like an introduction chapter for the Guardian's characters. I hope you like my story. More to come real soon!


	2. Chapter 2

A young adult gulped as he stood in front of a double metal door. He was scared - no, he was _terrified_ - of the of being in the room behind that door. He took a deep breath and composed himself before knocking.

"Come in."

He slowly opened the door and stepped inside to see a boy about a year older than he standing at the window, looking out into the forest. The warehouse they were in had been both boy's home for the past month, located outside the small, innocent town of Burgess.

The black haired boy looked over his shoulder to see the tense, younger boy standing there, playing with hands nervously.

"Did you come here to report, Joseph, and did you want to have tea?"

Joseph cringed a little in fear before speaking up. "I came to report, Mr. Black."

"Then report!"

"He had a wife, Mr. Black," Joseph explained. "A pretty wife. But, uh, she left him 12 years ago after she found out about him dealing with the Boss."

"_I'm _the boss now, Joseph," the man corrected him.

"Of course, Mr. Black," Joseph nodded.

Mr. Black turned to look at Joseph angrily. "I already knew about his wife. That was the only person besides his sister that we knew of to bribe him with. But now they're both useless!"

Joseph tensed up as Mr. Black raised his voice. The man sighed before composing himself. "Where is she now?"

"Burgess," Joseph responded. "She moved there the same time we moved here. Must've seen the news about the old Boss's death and brought back bad memories. Must've wanted to get away, start new."

Mr. Black nodded in thought. "See if he has any other living relatives, blood related this time. The ex-wife will be our last resort."

"Yes, Boss," Joseph nodded before hurrying from the room.

Mr. Black sat down at his desk and sighed, re-reading the report he had sitting open. He didn't expect to take over his father's business so soon. He expected to do so when his father was old and crippled, not 45 and shot to death by police.

Mr. Black, who's first name was Pitch, looked at the name of the person whose file he was reading. He despised this man; this man was the reason his father was dead and he was hiding. But he went and killed himself to keep from paying a debt he owed. Pitch would get back every dime, and he would go to almost any length to get it.

His mouth spoke the name like venom. "_Joshua Michael Frost._"

* * *

All of Jack's excitement quickly turned to anxiety as he received his class schedule. Not only were they hard classes, but the classrooms themselves were hard to find. He only had 5 minutes until his first class and he had no clue where it was. He'd been searching for 25 minutes.

He finally admitted defeat and headed towards the nearest group of students to ask for help. There were four of them and they were laughing at a joke the tall, white haired one just told. Jack knew he couldn't be albino, too; his skin was a normal shade.

"Excuse me?" Jack asked, approaching the group. They all turned to look at him and they all smiled except the one that looked Australian. He gave a toothy smile back and the girl among the group gasped in delight.

The next thing Jack knew, fingers were poking around inside his mouth and he could see the top of the girl's head right underneath his eyes.

"They're so white!" she squealed in excitement. "Just like freshly fallen snow! You don't have them whitened, do you? These teeth are almost like magic!"

Jack grabbed the girl's wrists and pulled her away, snapping his mouth shut in shock. The big Russian boy practically picked the girl up and set her between the two other kids.

"Sorry about Toothy," he apologized in a thick, Russian accent. "You are new kid, I presume?"

"Oh, yeah!" Jack said, remembering why he approached them. "I can't find the math classroom."

"You must've passed it 5 times, ya dill," the Australian rolled his eyes, as if in disbelief that Jack couldn't find the room.

"What joy!" the Russian exclaimed, ignoring the Australian's comment. "We all share first class with you!" He pointed to himself. "I am Nicholas St. North, but friends call me North." He pointed to the girl. "This is Tatiana Rose Fairie, but we call her Tooth because of her love for teeth." She smiled to him, and he smiled back, closed mouth this time. North moved on to the Australian. "This is Edward Aster Bunnymund. We call him Bunny. Don't worry about him; he is big grump in mornings." Bunny gave North a warning glare, but North ignored him and pointed to the last of their group. "And this is Samuel Daniel Sanderson, but we call him Sandy. He is mute."

"Oh!" Jack said in excitement. Then he began moving his hands. **I've been wanting to test my sign language out again. Haven't used it in years.**

Sandy looked at Jack in shock. **How do you know sign language? **

Jack had a little hurt in his eyes as he responded. **My aunt was mute and deaf. **

Sandy nodded, not wanting to push on the subject on his aunt, because it was obviously touchy for him. From what Sandy could tell, he used past tense when referring to his aunt, which meant she was gone now. That would explain why Jack hadn't used it for a while.

The group began to lead Jack towards the math room and discovered that at least one of them had a class with Jack throughout the entire day. They all shared first hour class and eighth hour class.

"We never got your name, comrade," North pointed out as they took their seats in the math room.

"Oh," Jack smiled. "Jackson Nathaniel Frost. You can call me Jack, though."

"Are you an only child, Jack?" Tooth asked in curiosity.

Jack shook his head. "I have a 10-year-old brother named Jamie and a 5-year-old sister named Sophie."

"Oh, wonderful!" Tooth clapped. "I have three 10-year-old sisters and Bunny has a 10-year-old sister as well! They can be friends with Jamie and Sophie!"

Jack looked at Tooth in shock. "You have _triplets _in your family?"

North chuckled. "And they are just as hyper and tooth-loving as Toothy."

Jack groaned, causing everyone but Bunny to laugh. Bunny didn't like Jack so far. But he decided to question Jack.

"That your natural hair, mate?" Bunny asked, motioning to Jack's white hair.

"Yep!" Jack responded without hesitation. "I'm part albino."

Sandy scribbled something onto his notepad and set it out for everyone to see.

**Are Jamie and Sophie part albino as well?**

Bunny noticed that Jack stiffened as he read Sandy's question. He took a deep breath before answering.

"Their dad isn't my biological father, and the albino gene came from my father." Jack avoided their eyes. "But Jeremiah is the only father figure I ever knew, so I consider him my dad. My parents separated when I was 5, and dad was never even home, so I don't have any memories of him."

Sandy frowned before taking his notepad back and writing something else.

**Sorry; I should've asked.**

Jack only smiled at Sandy. "You didn't know." He looked at the entire group. "So tell me, how much trouble could I get into for a prank on the first day?"


	3. Chapter 3

Jack sighed as he found himself, once again, lost. He'd gone down this hallway three times now, yet he still couldn't find the art room.

"Frostbite!"

Jack turned to glare at the person who just called them that, seeing it was Bunny, angrily standing inside a door.

"Get in here before the bell rings or you'll be late!"

Jack quickly ran into the room and found himself in the art room. The teacher assigned him to the seat next to Bunny.

"I'm giving you a free day," the teacher explained. "Draw whatever your heart desires."

Jack watched as Bunny instantly got to work. The paper soon became filled with all sorts of cool designs like you'd put on Easter eggs.

"Planning Easter, are ya Mr. Bunny?" Jack joked.

"Rack off, Frostbite," Bunny replied coldly, not even looking up. "Just get to work."

Jack frowned before turning to his own paper and grabbing his pencil. Out of his new friends, he decided Bunny was definitely his least favorite. The kid didn't know how to have fun; but Jack was definitely going to change that.

After all, what's life without fun?

* * *

Annabelle and Jeremiah smiled as they heard the door swing open, followed by two giggles and a roaring teenager. Bags were tossed to the floor and Jamie and Sophie burst into the kitchen, Jack not far behind.

"Alright, children," Annabelle chuckled. "Stop running. Don't wanna get hurt or break anything."

"Jamie, Sophie, why don't you go outside and play on the swing set?" Jeremiah suggested.

"Ok!" they said in unison. Jamie grabbed his sister's hand, leading her outside. Jack was about to follow them when Annabelle spoke up.

"Jack, we need to talk to you," she said. "Shall we go sit down in the kitchen?"

"I've been a good kid," Jack joked as they sat down. "No pranks whatsoever. I even made four friends!"

"That's great Jack," Jeremiah smiled. "But this isn't about school."

"It's about your father," Annabelle confessed, not looking her son in the eye.

Jack's smile fell. He didn't like talking about his birth father. Jeremiah would always be who he considered his dad, and that was that. They both knew that.

"Do you remember why we moved?" Jeremiah asked.

"Mom suddenly wanted to move away," Jack shrugged. "And she wouldn't take no for an answer."

"Jack, your father is part of the reason we moved," Annabelle explained. "I found out, when we were still together, that he was secretly working for a drug lord named Patrick Black. So I packed everything up, gathered you in my arms, and left him."

"You told me he left us!" Jack replied angrily.

"Hush!" Jeremiah warned him. "We don't want to worry Jamie or Sophie!"

"Jack," Annabelle cut in, with a sad look on her face. "You were 10 when you asked me what happened to your father. How am I supposed to tell a 10-year-old his father's a drug dealer and I left to protect both of us from getting kidnapped or killed?"

That caused Jack to go silent. Annabelle looked down and sniffed. It made Jack's heart hurt; he didn't like it when his mother cried.

"Jack," Jeremiah picked up. "The night Annabelle begged we move, she was watching the 6 o'clock news. Your father was on there; so was Patrick Black."

"So? Why should I care?" Jack asked, with almost a cold tone to his voice.

"He went and gave Patrick up to the police," Jeremiah explained. "You remember Aunt Margaret?" Jack nodded. "She was a sister to your father, Joshua. And when she died in that car accident, Joshua got a loan of money from Patrick to pay for the funeral. He thought he could get out of paying it back by giving Patrick up. But one of Patrick's men caught him leaving the station."

"He went home and burned all of the pictures from us when we were still a family, to protect me and you," Annabelle continued. "Then he shot himself. The police went after Patrick and were able to shoot him as well, and he died before he even got to the hospital."

"Police suspect that his son, Pitch, took over," Jeremiah sighed. "But Pitch went into hiding and they can't find him. Your mom was worried that if Pitch found out about you, he'd come after you. So we moved here, to protect you."

Jack looked down at his hands as if they were the most interesting thing in the world. For the last 7 years, he'd hated Joshua Frost for abandoning him and his mom. Now that he knew the truth, he didn't really know how to feel about his father.

"Jack?" Annabelle asked nervously.

Jack made sure he felt composed before looking up at his parents. He nodded absentmindedly before looking out the patio doors to watch Jamie pushing Sophie higher on the swing. The girl laughed happily, making Jack finally smile.

"I love you guys," was all that came out Jack's mouth towards his parents until after suppertime.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: I am SOOOOOOOO sorry for not posting for so long! I was working a whole bunch and then I'm starting college and starting piano lessons again and it seems like the time I spend for downtime is spent sleeping to re-coop. But, here's another chapter, finally!

* * *

Joseph ran down the hallway, excited as he clutched a folder in his hands. For the first time, he wasn't afraid to face Pitch Black with news, especially news like this. He was excited to see Pitch's delightful reaction.

He composed himself before knocking on the door.

"Come in."

Pitch sounded annoyed. But Joseph confidently walked in and smiled.

"He has a son, boss," he told Pitch.

Pitch straightened up, turned from the window to Joseph, and a wicked smile spread onto his face. "Tell me about him."

Joseph opened the folder and began scanning it.

"Mike just found new school records an hour ago," Joseph relayed. "Annabelle didn't even change his last name. He's 17, a new senior at Burgess High School. Name's-" And Joseph stopped.

"The name?" Pitch asked expectantly.

"I know him," Joseph confessed. "Jackson Nathaniel Frost. My friends bullied him for his weird looks when he was a freshmen."

"Then this will work out to both of our advantages, Joe," Pitch sat down at his desk. "Here's the plan."

* * *

Tooth was waiting impatiently by Jack's locker for the others (including Jack), so they could all walk to class together. Tooth was excited by the fact that they had a new friend, especially one as funny and carefree as Jack. They all tended to get a little too serious at times, trying to be perfect for everyone at everything, so Jack was a good way for them to let go and have fun once in a while. It was something they'd need.

"Hey, teeth freak." Tooth looked up to glare at Derek and Casey, two of the school's football stars. "Waiting for your new obsession?" They laughed.

Tooth jumped in shock as a fist swung past her and collided with Casey's jaw. Derek caught the stumbling teen and looked towards the person behind Tooth.

"You freaks!"

Then he quickly drug Casey off towards the nurse's office. Tooth turned to see a shocked Bunny, North, and Sandy looking at a clearly irritated Jack, whose fingers were still curled up into tight fists.

"Crikey mate!" Bunny finally spoke. "Are you blooming mad? You could get a detention for that!"

Jack turned to Bunny and gave a dangerous glare. "I don't tolerate bullying." He stuffed his fists into his pockets and walked off. The four friends watched him walk off in shock before Bunny crossed his arms and glared after the retreating being.

"I told you he was trouble," he muttered, but North caught what he said.

"Trouble?" North replied angrily. "He was defending friend, Bunny. What is so troublesome about that?"

"He punched a kid!" Bunny replied in disbelief.

Sandy held up his notepad and Bunny read it real quick. _A mean kid._

Bunny scoffed and pushed Sandy's notepad back to him. "You're gonna regret making friends with him."

"Ah," North said. "Then you shall share regret with us, comrade. Any friend of our's is a friend of your's."

"That troublesome brat is _not _my friend," Bunny growled. "He's only been here for a week. How can you guys trust him? We don't know a thing about him! You heard what he said about where he came from! He could just be another druggie!"

Around the corner, Jack slumped down, heart filling with hurt. He knew Bunny was weary of him, but he didn't imagine Bunny harbored such harsh opinions. Sighing, Jack hung his head and turned around to head to class, only to bump into someone.

"Sorry!" he burst out before catching a good look at the person. "Wait. Joe? Joseph Hanger? Is that really you, dude?"

"Jack!" Joe said in excitement. "Out of all the places to run into each other again, huh?"

"Yeah," Jack replied, almost angrily. Joe hesitated. This wasn't starting out well. Of course Jack wouldn't trust him off the bat; he used to bully the kid. He was still the same white-haired freak, but now he had some value to Joe.

Joe smiled. "Hey, no hard feelings, right? Past is the past."

"Yeah, sure," Jack rolled his eyes. "What are you doing here? You're four years older than me, aren't you?"

Joe shrugged. "I decided to come back and get my diploma." Jack's eyebrows shot up in interest. Joe smiled. "I didn't want to be a street druggie my entire life. So I got out of the city and came here, to a smaller town where I can start again."

That brought a smile to Jack's face. "Good for you. But, if you'll excuse me, I don't want to be late."

"Speaking of late," Joe looked at his schedule, which he got manipulated to be the exact same as Jack's. "Where's the math room?"

"Oh, I have that class," Jack said. "I'll just take you there."

"Great!" Joe placed a hand Jack's shoulder, who tensed up a little. "An excuse to catch up! You have siblings, don't you? How old are they now?"

Jack vaguely answered all of Joe's questions as they headed towards the math room, unsure of what to think of this man's sudden interest in him. The only time Joe ever paid attention to him before was to laugh at his expense. Maybe he really was starting over. And that would include making new, better (and more positive) friends.


End file.
